Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala intends to support rather than castigate Oliver Solberg after his third crash in as many asphalt World Rally Championship rounds.
But he also suggested Sébastien Ogier’s comments on Solberg’s Japan crash were hard but fair.
Solberg overshot a left-hander on Saturday afternoon’s first stage at Rally Japan, sliding wide after a muddy cut and clattering the rear-right of his GR Yaris Rally1 into a tree and breaking its suspension.
Reigning world champion Ogier said the accident was “not surprising” given the degree of risk he perceived the Monte Carlo winner to have taken – and Latvala admitted there was merit to Ogier’s remarks.
“Ogier was his [Solberg’s] hero, but Ogier is a driver that has the biggest passion to win an event than anybody else I know in this world,” said Latvala. “He would do everything to win an event. He’s a fair guy, he’s an honest and fair guy, but in those moments he can be hard.”
Latvala confirmed he had discussed those remarks with Solberg and suggested they had merit, while also urging Solberg to be patient in his first full season at the WRC’s top level since 2022.
“I said [to Oliver] that you have to respect that Ogier has experience and you have to understand,” said Latvala. “And [Oliver] said, ‘Yes, I’ve seen it now and it’s OK now for me’. But that’s the thing that I said to him, you have to go through that learning curve.
“If this would be easy, I would also be world champion. But I didn’t win it because it’s not easy!”
Latvala was Ogier’s team-mate for four years at Volkswagen, experiencing first-hand how difficult he was to compete against in a title fight after falling short of a world title on all four occasions.
“I know very, very well the feeling with Oliver,” he said.
“I mean, at the moment, first of all, I have to say he’s the fastest driver in the championship at the moment. But he is not the most consistent. Elfyn Evans is the most consistent. And if you like Ogier as well, the high speed and the consistency is really, really high level. So with Oliver, he is young, he is ambitious. He wants very much and he wants to win, which is great. You need to have that. If you don’t have it, you’re never going to be a world champion.”
Latvala knows Ogier better than most, having driven against him as his team-mate
Despite a third crash in four WRC events – Solberg went off on Croatia Rally’s opening stage and then the penultimate stage of Rally Islas Canarias – Latvala stressed that he would not be coming down hard on the 24-year-old for another accident.
“The most important thing is that we need to keep supporting him,” said Latvala. “Even though the mistakes, yes, have happened this year, this is clear, but we need to keep supporting him. We know that his potential is very, very high, but together we need to find the tools to find the consistency for that great speed.
“I know the most difficult thing is to take that two percent out of your speed. Your mind wants to win and when you are backing off a little bit, your brain says: no don’t do that, don’t do that, no, you have to go, you have to go. And you’re fighting with yourself. You have to accept and trust that the speed is enough.”
Latvala’s sympathetic approach is aided by having gone through similar struggles as a driver – only unlocking the knowledge of how to manage the situation Solberg now finds himself in after stepping back from full-time competition.
“I didn’t understand these things when I was a driver,” Latvala added. “I only understood it as a team principal when I look at Séb Ogier and these guys when they are driving. I started to think a little bit further, then I saw the big picture. But when you are in your own bubble, you don’t want to accept it.”
